To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
How to analyze a website is the first, and most important step, in the website design process. It requires answering several questions about this website you’re going to create. Now’s the time to start a journal. Write down the following questions and give some serious thought to your answers.
Why are you creating this website?
Your answer is important. It will determine the content, design and development of your pages. Do you have some interesting information you’d like to share? Do you have a product or service to sell? Do you want to display your artistic/creative talent? Do you have some terrific website links you want to let the world know about? Really think about this and then write down your thoughts.
Another way to think about this question is what is the goal of this website? Is it to entertain, instruct, inform, persuade, share, sell or display? The answer will provide you with direction and focus as you design your site and help you to develop your theme.
Who is my target audience?
What type of visitors do I want my site to attract? What are the demographics of your audience. What will be their age, sex and education? Will they search out my site because we share a special interest, do the same kind of things or are they looking for specific information? Is my target audience the business community, stay-at-home moms, artists, or sports enthusiasts? Or is it a combination of several groups?
Be as specific as you can about this. Try to pinpoint a certain type of individual then learn as much about them as you can so you can tailor your website to suit them. The key to website success lies in your ability to express your message in such a way as to create interest for your visitors. You can’t do this unless you know who they are.
How can I communicate effectively?
Once you know who the audience for your website will be, what is the best way to communicate with them? Are they looking for a fancy site with lots of interactivity? Do they want all the information on the first page? Would they prefer the content be categorized so that they can access only the section they want? Do I need to include an order form? Would a message board be a good way to communicate?
The way your visitors perceive your message will determine how they react to it. If you are seeking to sell something to your visitors make that clear from the start. People don’t like to be fooled into taking action. Be clear and forthright in your method of communication and your website will stand with the best of them.
What information do I need?
If you are designing a site for a client, you will need to know the answers to the preceding questions as well as what their vision is for their site. Do they have a logo they want you to use, do they have specific colors in mind, do they want to include phone and fax numbers on their pages? If this is your own business site, these are questions you should answer also.
When creating a personal website, such as one providing links to other sites, it is considered good netiquette to contact the site owners and let them know you are linking to their pages. An advantage to this is that often they will provide a reciprocal link to your site!
If you are using someone else’s graphics and/or pictures, you should request their permission and plan on providing a credit link somewhere on the page where they are displayed. Are you going to have a message forum on your site? Are you going to have an e-mail list for informing visitors of updates or new content? These are all things you need to consider…and make note of in your journal.
What content (data, graphics, photos, etc.) will be included?
This is the big job…gathering all the content that you want to include on your website. Are you going to use photos? What kind of graphics do you want? And what information or data are you putting online! Are you going to provide tutorials? Right now, just make a list of the items you think you will want to have on your website…you don’t need to gather it all together yet.
Make notes about what you need to do such as scan photos or documents, locate or create graphics, write tutorials, sort and organize data. This is a good time to create folders or binders for your website project so that you can keep the content organized. You might need one folder for Graphics, one for Photos, one for Data, one for Tutorials and one for Miscellaneous information. Your content will determine the folder titles you need. Don’t let all this overwhelm you…it will all fall into place.
Planning your website
Time spent on this most important phase of website design will pay dividends in the long run. The planning that you do now will make things much easier once your website is online. There are a multitude of details that go into the design of a professional site and solid planning in the early stages of design will help eliminate problems down the road. Remember to spend as much time as necessary planning your website.
Planning and organizing are the most crucial steps in designing a website. Once you have a clear picture of what you are trying to say it will be easier to devise a plan to present this information to your visitors. Planning your website is the key to creating a website that is robust, effective and easy to maintain.
Culture and Website Localization
With the rise in ownership of computers and internet usage growing daily, the internet is fast becoming the primary port of call for information, shopping and services. In addition, those computer and internet users are increasingly from non-English speaking countries. At the end of 2002, it was estimated that 32% of internet users were non-native English speakers. This figure is constantly rising. In response, businesses have quickly become aware of the benefits of website localization.
Website localization is the process of modifying an existing website to make it accessible, usable and culturally suitable to a target audience. Website localization is a multi-layered process needing both programming expertise and linguistic/cultural knowledge. If either is missing, the chances are that a localization project will encounter problems.
In the majority of cases it is the lack of linguistic and cultural input that lets a website localization project down. In order to give an insight into the impact culture has on website localization the following examples depict areas in which a solid understanding of the target culture is necessary.
Language in Website Localization
Translating a website from English into another language is not as simple as it may appear. There are numerous factors that have to be taken into consideration when translating a websites’ content. Do all the words, phrases, sayings and metaphors translate directly to the target language? Would it be wise to translate the phrase “everyman for himself” in text describing a company or product if this is going to be read by a highly collectivist culture? Does the content of your website use humour and if so will the target culture appreciate or even understand it? Native alternatives should always be sought and used in any website localization.
When translating into another language carefully consider the variants. If it is to be an Arabic website then is aimed at Tunisians or Iraqis, Egyptians or Yemenis? If you are targeting all Arabic speakers then ensure Modern Standard Arabic has been employed by your translator.
One must analyse the style of the language and the target audience. If the audience is foreign business personnel, the vocabulary, grammar and punctuation must reflect this. If the audience is informal or youth orientated then a more relaxed language must used. Just as we in the UK would identify the difference between a site using ‘posh English’ and ‘street English’, other cultures will have the same perceptions of language. Using the wrong language for the wrong reader in your localization project will lead to a misunderstanding of the site or company.
It is essential to assess what information is necessary to carry over into the new site. Do not assume that all information on the English site is automatically transferred over. One must evaluate the target culture and society. Is it a culture that relies on information rich writing to fully understand a concept or product or is a culture that relies more on images or one that needs little text to grasp ideas and concepts? If your English site employs a lot of technical language then consider how best to transfer these concepts without the use of language.
Pictures in Website Localization
Images carry many subtle cultural messages within them. These can speak volumes about your company or product. Pictures or images may have certain negative connotations that may repel viewers. This is now an area that thankfully is receiving attention in website localization.
For example, if a travel site in a Muslim populated country used pictures of scantily clad women in bikinis, disco dancing and beer drinking, the chances are that they would not be very successful.
When including pictures of personnel it is wise to tailor these to what the target audience will look positively upon. A picture of the Director behind a desk in an office will be fine for a seniority respecting society, but for an egalitarian society it is better to show the Director mixing with staff.
It is through pictures that websites can either relate to an audience or repel them.
Symbols in Website Localization
As with pictures, symbols can cause problems in localization. Icons using fingers such as an OK sign or V-sign may mean different things to different cultures. Our Western symbols do not always mean the same abroad. An oft cited example is the representation of the house referring to a home page, or a letterbox to mail. The use of animals in logos can cause embarrassment and further problems. For example, pigs are considered unclean in the Middle East and cows as holy in India.
Colours in Website Localization
Colours are also loaded with cultural meanings that need to be analysed in website localization. Choosing the wrong colour for your logo or background will not always have disastrous consequences, but avoiding them is always advisable.For example, in Japan white is commonly associated with mourning. In China red is auspicious. In Africa certain colours represent different tribes.
Navigation in Website Localization
It is even the most taken for granted aspects of website layout that must be analysed properly for a successful localization project. In the West we assume that how we present websites is how it naturally should be done. This is far from the truth.
A common problem experienced in localization is the effect on layout through translation. Foreign scripts can make your pages need more room or less room depending on the target language in the localization. Not all languages read from left to right. Arabic is from right to left and both Japanese and Chinese are from top to bottom.
Access to certain pages is also a factor that can be considered as relevant. Highly hierarchical cultures may view a site positively if it is ‘member only’ access, whereas an egalitarian culture may find it disagreeable.
Content in Website Localization
Examining your written content in any localization process in critical to its success. This is not only important for proper transfer of aspects such as dates, currencies, and units of measurement but for the presenting the correct image.
For example, will the site focus on a product or a company? Both bring with them certain considerations dependent on the target culture. If a company is marketing itself in a culture that respects seniority and hierarchy, readers will want to see information on senior members. Along with their titles and rank they will also want to evaluate them through information on their professional qualifications, experience and contacts. These areas in the UK may generally be avoided as in our culture it is bordering on self-indulgence and boasting.
Conclusion
Culture affects everything we do, say, read, hear and think and even websites cannot escape the influence of culture.
The impact of culture on website localization is huge. The above few examples are literally the tip of the iceberg. The number of variables that have to be taken into consideration requires the expertise of both a website designer along with a cross cultural communications consultant. In tandem they can identify the issues that will impact on the successful localization of a site.
At a time where the internet is entering more and more houses it is crucial that companies involved in the internationalization of their business consider website localization and take care to use effective cross cultural analysis.
You don’t have to spend a fortune to increase sales or leads for your website. There are a number of free and easier techniques you can use for increased website conversion. Consider the case of any service based website. You are probably hoping that your website alone will be enough to help generate leads for your business.
It is hard to quote a price for many services without gathering more information from your client. Then, what do you do? How do you get your visitors to leave their contact details so you can contact them by e-mail or telephone?
Ideally, you want your visitors to check your website and fill out a [conversion] form with their contact details so you can get in touch with them to further discuss how your services will help them. Keep in mind, no one wants to fill out a long form! A short, discrete conversion form will help convert your visitors to leads. Images on the form also make a difference to the number of leads.
The Ideal Form for Your Website
* Outline the metrics of your marketing campaign before you develop a form for your website.
* Depending on the needs of your website, you might require a short or medium form
* Most often, the form has to be short, professional and attractive so it can entice the visitor to fill the required details
* Reduce the number of fields in your form and ensure that the visitor is not going to fill in unnecessary details
* Your form should be placed higher on the page so it is clearly visible without the need to scroll
* Remove the main navigation from the page if possible
* Guarantee privacy to anyone who uses the form. You can do this by placing a link to your site’s Privacy Policy in the form itself
* Visitor will feel added trust in your site and form of he/she finds a customer testimonial in the form area as well
* Some freebies in exchange for the visitors contact details are a good enticement
* For added lead generation and return visitors, add the collected emails to your future email marketing campaigns
Apart from all this, it is important to change the form on your website from time to time. While you change the form, review the changes to the number of leads. If you are annoying your visitors with little or no content and long forms to fill, you may be discouraging repeat visits.
